"Okay," Lindsey said as they appeared in front of the cabin as she looked to Goku. "Should one of us tell them first?" she asked in a soft voice. "Or should we just go in?" The sight of Goten's face was shocking, to say the least, and she wasn't sure how her husband and Goku's mates would react upon first seeing it. She didn't want Goten to be any more frightened than he already was.

Goku shifted Goten in his arms, careful not to press on his back, the wound's still angry and red. He leaned his head against his son's chest, "What do you think, little man? They are going to be fussing over you, no matter what. I don't want you to be scared or anything."

Goten hugged his dad's hair, burying his face into the soft strands, his dad smelled like soap, campfire smoke, and spices, "I can do it. I'll be brave, I promise." He swallowed, "I wanna see Sabriena."

Lindsey reached up and gently ruffled Goten's hair. "You're so brave," she cooed and turned to lead the way into the cabin.

Gohan was sitting at the table, nursing a cup of coffee. He looked tired and his eyes were red. "Hey," he smiled when he saw Lindsey. Sabriena was at the fireplace, checking freshly baked loaves of bread and stirring a pot of soup. Tien was sitting quietly at his place at the table, staring intently at his coffee cup.

Sabriena turned and grinned, but her smile fell as Goku walked in, carrying Goten. She dropped her spoon to the wood floor with a clatter and rushed over to them. "What happened?" she cried, her hands hovering mere inches from Goten's face. She wanted to grab him, looking him over, heal him. "She... She did this to him?!" She felt like screaming. She never imagined it would be this bad. And that was just the mark she could see. She didn't know if she wanted to see what was under his clothes.

Goku could almost sense what Sabriena wanted to do and he nodded at her sadly, "You can't heal these, not until after we call CPS and they see."

Goten saw Sabriena's sad face, "It doesn't hurt that bad anymore, Sabriena. I'm okay, honest." He held out his arms for her, his expression was sad as he tried to fight away the tears that threatened to fall, "Daddy says I gotta go away for a little while."

She carefully gathered him in her arms and carried him across the cabin to sit on the bed with him. "No," she cried softly, clinging to him. "You're my buddy. I want you here." She carefully peeled up the back of his shirt and gave a strangled sob, quickly smoothing it back down. "I'm so sorry, baby."

Tien's energy was rising, pure anger boiling in his veins. "Goku, you can't be serious. You're really going to trust the law to handle this right? We should keep him here and be done with it!" He jumped up, overturning his chair, his eyes blazing. He'd seen Goten's back when Sabriena pulled up his shirt.

Goku looked sadly over at Goten and Sabriena. It was so very tempting to just do what Tien said and keep Goten here and to hell with everything else. It warmed his heart, but it tore him up to see those marks on Goten's body. He could see the horror in Gohan's eyes, the way he hugged Phoenix to him protectively, "Chichi has to be held responsible for her actions. Bulma will help, she already promised us that. I want this done right, so she never lays another hand on him ever again. If we keep him here, she'll say we kidnapped him and beat him. I won't stand for it." He dragged a hand down his face, smearing the tears that kept falling down at the thought of his son being taken from him in this way, "Arthusia said those marks are no more than three weeks old."

"THREE WEEKS?!" Tien shouted. "She did all that in three weeks?!" He started pacing the floor of the cabin, his hands on his hips, staring at the floor. "Let them say we kidnapped him. Like I care. All that matters is that boy's safety. And you're a fool if you're going to trust the law to handle this. Don't you remember the last time we let the law handle something? Your daughter's attackers walked away SCOT-FREE!" He pointed at Lindsey who tried very hard to sink into the shadows in the corner.

Goku stepped in front of her protectively, "Don't bring her into his. Don't bring up bad memories! Tien, please think about Goten. It is about his safety, but I don't want him to have to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life. I don't trust the law, but I trust Bulma to get it done. This is going to be different. Chichi won't get away with this." He saw Goten hide his face into Sabriena's neck, she had her hands over his ears, her face in his hair, murmuring to him. His jaw clenched tightly, "However, should the law fail us. Then yeah. if its alright with you and Sabriena, I'll want to bring Goten out here to stay."

"You should keep him here from the get go," Tien growled. "Goku, I love you, but I can't deal with this. C'mon Dog!" Tien slapped his thigh and the big dog bounded to his side as he stormed out of the cabin and slammed the door behind him.

Tears welled in Lindsey's eyes. Goku needed Tien right now and he had walked out. She moved to sit next to Gohan, leaning her head against his shoulder as she continued to cry. What an absolute nightmare.

Sabriena clutched Goten to her chest and looked over the top of his spiky hair, "He'll be okay," she reassured her friend, "He just needs to cool off for a minute. Don't worry about him."

"Is Tien mad?" Goten asked in a tiny voice, looking up at Sabriena.

"No, baby, he just wants you to be safe," she answered, slicking the hair from his face. "He just has to take a minute to calm down. He's okay."

Goku turned and watched Tien storm out the door. His heart ached, it had already been torn to shreds by seeing his son's brutal wounds brought to light. He needed everyone's support for this. He knew would come back. He would understand why he had to do it this way. He turned to Lindsey and reached out for her and pulled her close, "I'm sorry, he shouldn't have brought that up." He kissed the top of her head, "Thank you so much for today. I couldn't have done it without you." He looked over at Gohan, "Thanks for keeping them company today while I was gone." He sighed, trying to sort out his thoughts on what had to happen next. Next, they would have a meal together as a family. Enjoy it, make it last because after that, they would go to Capsule Corp where he was going to call CPS and get this whole process started, the sooner it got going, the sooner it would be over.

Sabriena drew a long breath through her nose and looked at Goten again. "You hungry, kiddo?" He nodded. "Okay. You go sit by your brother and I'll serve our dinner."

Goten walked over to Gohan and wrapped his arms around his brother's waist. Gohan pulled Goten into his lap. "I love you, little bro," Gohan said softly. He handed Phoenix to Lindsey and hugged Goten properly, taking care not to touch his back too much. He sat him on the table so that they were eye-to-eye. "Why didn't you say something, Goten?"

Goten looked sheepish, "Momma said no one would believe me. She said you and daddy wouldn't love me anymore if I made up stories."

Gohan's blood boiled as he studied the marks on his brother's face. He lifted Goten's shirt and his head swam as he saw more marks on his stomach, his chest. He smoothed the shirt back down gently. He didn't want to see more. He still couldn't believe it. His mother had always been a harsh woman, but for her to inflict this kind of misery on her own flesh and blood. Why hadn't she done this to him when he was a child? Of course, Gohan had been a much bolder child than Goten was. And there was that one time. Gohan pushed the thought out of his head. This wasn't about him and he didn't see how it mattered now. Their mother had hurt Goten on so many levels. Her own son. Gohan froze, terror building in his chest. He'd let her watch Phoenix on several occasions. He couldn't breathe, his chest was full of a crushing, icy weight.

"Goten," Lindsey said softly, "Your dad and Gohan will always love you, no matter what. We all love you. Don't listen to her when she says things like that to you." She looked down at the baby in her arms. He was snoozing away, his soft tail curled around her wrist. She loved that. She didn't care what he may become on the full moon. She was leaving her baby the way he was: safe, loved, just the way he was born.

Goku swallowed and moved to help Sabriena get dinner onto plates and passed them out. He knew this had to be hard for Sabriena. First her dad and now this. He looked over at Lindsey, Gohan and Goten. Gohan looked horrified, his face was pale as he stared at his brother. He carried over the last few plates and he set Goten's plate next to Gohan's. He walked over to Lindsey, wrapping an arm around her back and looked over her shoulder, down at little Phoenix. Not a mark on him, of course. He loved the little tail too. He reached out and carefully smoothed some of that silky fur down, listening to the baby purr and turning to snuggle closer to his mother's breast. He sighed and went over to sit next to opposite of Goten, as he looked down at his own plate of food. It smelled good. It was a comfort food, Sabriena had said. Something to keep them warm and safe. To ease the pain of the day.

Sabriena couldn't help but think that, even with the extra guests, the table felt incredibly empty without Tien. She could feel his anger and worry coursing through her and she fought to press it down, to not let his emotions override her own. Sometimes their bond was a bit overwhelming when one or the other of them felt a strong emotion. She'd nearly broken Tien's heart when her dad died, but he was stronger at toning her down when he needed to.

She tore off a hunk of the fresh baked bread and sunk it into the steaming deer stew. She loved the crispy chewy-ness of the crust. She kept stealing glances at Goten as he ate hungrily, the light from the window making the marks on his face stand out sharply. She forced herself to look away.

Gohan wasn't eating. "Give me the baby," he said suddenly and pulled Phoenix from Lindsey's arms. He had to know, he couldn't go on another minute with the worry in the back of his mind.

She chewed quickly and swallowed, watching him carry the baby over to the bed. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Gohan looked over his shoulder at her. "We let mom watch Phoenix," he hissed.

Lindsey's eyes went wide and she bolted to his side. "Surely she wouldn't..."

"Did you see what she did to Goten? Evil bitch," he muttered as he unbuttoned the baby's outfit.

Goku dropped his spoon with a clatter back into his bowl at the realization and he looked over to the bed with horror in his eyes and he covered his mouth with his hand. No, please by all that was good in this world. Chichi wouldn't dare hurt a baby, would she? Goku wilted as he remembered the day Phoenix was born. Chichi had stormed out on them as she screamed that she didn't have a daughter. Gods this was crushing him. If she hurt his grandchild.

He squeezed his eyes shut, he felt more tears welling up. He should have been dried up by now, but somehow he still managed to find more tears to cry. He looked over at Sabriena, she kept glancing to the door. A small smile pulled at his lips as he realized that she had scooted closer to Goten or had Goten moved closer to her?

This needed to be over. He wanted to live his life in peace, without worry that a mother was harming her own children. His children. Arthusia's words echoing in his head, how did a pure spirit end up with a wretched being like her. He didn't know what to feel any more. He couldn't love Chichi for this. Any love he had for her was gone. He loved his children and that was what he needed. He didn't regret them, but he regretted Chichi. The admission brought more tears to his eyes. He needed Tien, Sabriena and him both. Tien was their stability, he was the one who was grounded, who kept them from losing themselves.

"I don't see anything," Lindsey breathed.

"Yeah, and we didn't see anything on Goten, either," Gohan snapped, looking his son over. "That's it. Dad, take us to see Grandma."

"No," Lindsey argued.

Gohan blinked at her. "What? Why not?"

"Because I don't want to know!" she shouted. "Gohan, I will kill your mother if she hurt our son. Literally. I've killed for less and so have you. We both feel too much and you know it! Do you really want to go around knowing that for the rest of our lives?!"

"How can you stand to not know?!" he shouted, getting to his feet.

"Look, she gave Goten senzu beans, right? There's no way she gave any to Phoenix! Have you ever bitten into one of those bastards? They're hard as a rock!" she reasoned.

"Unless she ground it up and stuck it in his bottle," Sabriena stated.

Lindsey turned to Sabriena, her eyes flashing, "You're not helping."

"I'm just saying!" Sabriena answered, but shut her mouth after that.

"Gohan, please," Lindsey begged. "He's just a baby. He won't remember. I don't want to know. He's fine now. Please?!"

Goten didn't like the shouting. All the bad things happened when grownups started shouting. He put down his spoon in his empty bowl and climbed into Sabriena's lap, covering his ears with his hands and shutting his eyes.

Goku watched and something touched him deep inside to see his wife with his child like that. This remarkable woman who had been selfish, spoiled, caring only for herself, had undergone an incredible metamorphosis into someone who was loving and selfless. She had cared more for his son than his actual mother had in the short amount of time she had gotten to know him. Now looking at them like this, he could see the mother in her. The one she said she didn't have.

Phoenix awoke at the sound of his parents shouting and began to wail. "Oh, well done, Gohan," Lindsey snapped.

"I wasn't the only one yelling!" he shot back.

Lindsey gathered the baby in her arms, trying to shush him. She sighed as she recognized that cry. She looked around; there was nowhere private for her to sit with him. She stomped her foot in frustration. "He's hungry," she told her husband.

Goku heard and waved his hands at them, "Go on, I need to step outside for a moment anyway," He rose and gave a small smile to Sabriena, "It was delicious. Thank you." He turned to carefully open the door and close it behind him. He heard the steady thunk of the axe burying itself into the wooden stump, seconds before he saw Tien chopping wood with all of his might. However, the logs were not the usual, perfect cut down the middle. Rather he was just chopping to chop. Some of the blows missed the log entirely, but he still kept going. He walked over, closer to Tien as he took a long deep breath, "You're right you know? We should just kidnap Goten, let him stay here with us. It's killing me from the inside out, all of this power and I can't even protect my own children from their mother!"

Tien brought the axe down with a crushing blow and turned to face Goku. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I just can't stand all of this, Goku. It's killing me." He scrubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hand. "We finally got Sabriena back, got to know her dad. For what? Just to lose him? Then that whole mess with Bulma just a few weeks ago. And now, this mess with your boy." He couldn't get the image of Goten's face out of his mind. "You're the one who's right, Goku. We need to do this thing the right way. If the system fails us, then we'll take matters into our own hands." He paused for a minute, looking at the ground. "I shouldn't be such a hothead."

Goku couldn't stop the weak chuckle that bubbled up from his throat, "I think our wife is rubbing off on you." His smile fell a little and he nodded, "Yeah, we only knew him for a short time, but it felt like a lot longer to me, you know?" Goku closed his eyes remembering the man's stories, the night they stayed over late, talking to him, sharing his stories about anything and everything. He opened his eyes and looked at Tien, "Should the system fail. There will be nothing I won't do to protect my sons. My family, Tien. You know that right? I'm going to try to take some comfort in the fact that in any moment, I can go get my son from wherever they are going to place him and bring him back here," He sighed and sat down in the dirt, "I just wish it didn't have to be this way."

"I know," Tien answered. He bit the inside of his cheek for a minute, debating. "I couldn't help overhearing those two arguing in there. You think Chichi hurt your grandson?"

"To be honest, I don't know what to think any more." Goku felt sick at the thought of Chichi daring to hurt a baby, her grandchild, "I thought I knew her, but clearly I was a fool to even think that. Maybe if I was more like Vegeta, this would be over."

Tien narrowed his eyes. "Don't you ever wish to be like him." He moved closer and grabbed Goku's chin in his strong hand. "I love you for who you are," he said in a low voice, "and so does our wife. Don't ever change who you are." He pressed his lips to Goku's; a firm, strong kiss of reassurance. "Now, come on, I'm starving and you need to be inside with Goten before you have to make that call." He grabbed Goku's hand and led him back inside.

Goten was sitting so close to Sabriena that she had her arm wrapped around his shoulders. Gohan was pacing the floor now, his dinner untouched. Lindsey was laying in their bed with her back to them.

"Why...?" Tien started.

"She's feeding the baby," Sabriena interrupted.

"Oh," Tien said and turned to Sabriena. "I don't suppose you've got any supper left for me?"

She nodded and got up, kissing the top of Goten's head quickly and filled a bowl for Tien. He sat down in his chair, heaving another sigh as he looked at Goten. Poor kid. What on earth had he done to deserve that? Nothing. There was not a single thing that child could have done to deserve such abuse.

"Dad," Gohan said, stopping in the middle of the cabin, "What should I do?" He was at a complete loss. He didn't want his son to hurt, Lindsey didn't want to know the truth, and he was going crazy with worry.

Goku moved to sit next to Tien at the table, picking up his spoon and reaching for a slice of bread. He could see the fear, the worry in Gohan's worry of a father. He understood what Gohan was feeling. He had felt the same, it was a little different though. Goten had been showing signs of his abuse however, baby Phoenix was not, "Lindsey's grandmother is coming here in a few days. Think it over Gohan. Let's not make this more ugly than it has to be. We've all suffered enough."

Goten chewed a large mouthful of food and he swallowed. "Momma never hit Phoenix," he said simply.

Gohan froze for a second. "Goten, are you sure?"

Goten nodded and looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "She'd yell when he cried. And she left him in the playpen to cry until he went to sleep, but she didn't hit him."

Gohan heaved a sigh of relief as tears brimmed in his eyes. No, he wasn't happy to hear that his mother practically ignored his son, but it was far better than what his mind had dreamed up.

Goku let out a huge sigh of relief and practically sank into this bowl of stew face first, "Good boy Goten." He smiled at his son. Goten's smile beamed back at him, though the marks on his face were ugly, they didn't take away the beauty that he was. His personality and his spirit were just as pure as they could be. He tried looking at Goten in a new light. It was Chichi's fault, each mark on his skin was like a glimpse into her own soul. How destroyed she was to mark her son like that. The ugly truth, the hate Chichi had for herself.

They all settled in to their dinner, finishing quietly and Lindsey joined them a few minutes later, the baby fast asleep in her arms again.

"I guess you'd better go make that call now, Dad," Gohan said sadly after a minute. "I'll come with you. I'll take Goten if they'll let me. He can stay with us, right, Lins?"

She nodded. "Absolutely. I already thought about that."

Sabriena gathered Goten up in her arms and walked around the table to stand next to Goku and Gohan. "Aren't you coming?" she asked Tien.

He shook his head. "I'm afraid of my own temper right now," he admitted. He looked at Goten, "You stay strong, kid. It'll all be over before you know it. You're going to be okay." He felt lousy for not going with Goku, but he just couldn't stand to witness this. He worried that he would react wrong and give these CPS people the wrong impression.

Goten nodded. "Okay, Mr. Tien. I'll be good, I promise."

"Go on," Lindsey said softly. "I'll stay here with Tien. I don't want Phoenix to wake up again just yet anyway."